Shortly after the news broke, Gunn — who hadn’t tweeted since his firing — issued a statement on Twitter.

“I am tremendously grateful to every person out there who has supported me over the past few months,” Gunn wrote on Twitter. “I am always learning and will continue to work at being the best human being I can be. I deeply appreciate Disney’s decision and I am excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all. I have been, and continue to be incredibly humbled by your love and support. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Love to you all.”

Gunn was fired by the Mouse House last summer after a series of controversial old tweets from the filmmaker surfaced.

In a statement given to The Hollywood Reporter at the time, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said: “The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him.”

The tweets were dated between 2008 to 2012, years before Gunn took the reins of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.

In one tweet, dated June 10, 2008, Gunn wrote: “Laughter is the best medicine. That’s why I laugh at people with AIDS.”

In a series of messages, Gunn sought to explain himself on Twitter, writing: “Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humour… It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over.”

According to Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr., Horn decided to bring back the director because of his public apology and how he has handled himself in the aftermath.

Guardians 3 was originally scheduled to be filming now and released in 2020. But in the wake of his firing, Gunn lined up DC’s Suicide Squad 2 for rival Warner Bros.

Now, according to Deadline, Gunn will begin production on Guardians 3 once he concludes work on Suicide Squad 2.

In an interview with the Sun in 2017, Gunn revealed that his involvement with Marvel was going to extend past Guardians 3.

Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) in a scene from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. (Marvel)

“I will be helping to plant the seeds that will lead to the next decade,” Gunn said. “I’m helping to decide what projects will be pursued outside of Guardians 3, where Vol. 3 is going to lead to and then what the next cosmic characters we will focus on will be and how that will happen.”

The first two Guardians films, which follow a misfit bunch of space adventurers, have grossed over $1.6 billion globally.

In the wake of his dismissal, the Guardians cast, including Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel and other stars of the franchise supported Gunn in an open letter.